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Advanced Approaches for Analysis of Food Contaminants and Residues

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Analytical Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2027 | Viewed by 1855

Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Food Science, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
Interests: food contact materials (FCMs) and migration studies; non-intentionally added substances (NIAS); targeted and non-targeted screening of contaminants; high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS); metabolomics; lipidomics; food safety and traceability; analytical method development and validation; risk assessment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Ensuring food safety, i.e., necessitating robust methods to detect, quantify, and mitigate contaminants and residues in food products, is a global priority. Contaminants, whether naturally occurring, environmental, or introduced during production and processing, pose significant health risks. This Special Issue focuses on advanced analytical approaches that address these challenges, providing a platform for cutting-edge research and technological innovations for safeguarding food safety and quality.

The need for advanced analytical techniques arises from the increasing complexity of modern food systems and the demand for higher sensitivity, specificity, and efficiency in detection. Traditional methods often fall short in detecting contaminants at trace levels or in complex matrices. This Special Issue highlights breakthroughs in high-resolution mass spectrometry, chromatographic advancements, and novel spectroscopic methods. Additionally, it explores integrative techniques such as multi-residue analysis, chemometric data processing, and bioanalytical tools that enhance the detection of emerging contaminants.

The scope of this Special Issue encompasses diverse topics, including method development and validation, regulatory compliance, identification and characterization of novel hazards, and real-world applications in monitoring of contaminants across the food chain. Research studies addressing analytical challenges,  new methods, elaborate innovative strategies for screening unknown contaminants, and contributions to food safety monitoring can finally provide a comprehensive understanding of how analytical chemistry shapes the future of safe and sustainable food production.

Dr. Emmanouil Tsochatzis
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • allergens in foods
  • antibiotics in food products
  • endocrine-disrupting substances
  • food additives
  • food contact materials
  • mycotoxins
  • pesticides
  • polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH)
  • process-induced changes and oxidation products

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

21 pages, 1097 KB  
Review
Miniaturized-LC in the Analysis of Emerging Organic Contaminants in Food and Environmental Samples: Recent Advances and Applications
by Cemil Aydoğan, Ashraf Ali, Mehmet Atakay, Bekir Salih and Ziad El Rassi
Molecules 2026, 31(1), 68; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules31010068 - 24 Dec 2025
Viewed by 1322
Abstract
Mini-LC systems, including Cap-LC, Nano-LC and Chip-LC, offer a sustainable alternative to conventional LC methods thanks to their reduced solvent consumption, enhanced separation efficiency and environmentally friendly operation. Integrating micro-scale sample preparation techniques, such as µ-SPE, IT-SPME, LPME and QuEChERS, with Mini-LC significantly [...] Read more.
Mini-LC systems, including Cap-LC, Nano-LC and Chip-LC, offer a sustainable alternative to conventional LC methods thanks to their reduced solvent consumption, enhanced separation efficiency and environmentally friendly operation. Integrating micro-scale sample preparation techniques, such as µ-SPE, IT-SPME, LPME and QuEChERS, with Mini-LC significantly improving analytical sensitivity and selectivity. Mini-LC coupled with mass spectrometry has demonstrated excellent performance in the detection of trace levels of pesticides, pharmaceuticals, veterinary drug residues, perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), and mycotoxins. Despite current challenges relating to matrix effects, instrument stability and method standardization, Mini-LC represents a promising analytical platform for the cost-effective, high-sensitivity, green monitoring of contaminants in food safety and environmental analysis. This review summarizes recent advances in the application of Mini-LC techniques for analyzing emerging organic contaminants (EOCs) in food and environmental samples. This paper also provides a critical review of this topic, covering works published in the last four years (early 2022–mid 2025). Additionally, it discusses the use of these techniques in combination with mass spectrometry (e.g., low-resolution MS or high-resolution MS) for the detection of EOCs in food and environmental samples. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Approaches for Analysis of Food Contaminants and Residues)
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